Hello! For the Java API, I can see option 4 being useful for many reasons.
The XxxParser approach could be a bit more elegant for adding AVDL, but also for providing parsers that have alternative or custom configurations, or future/custom representations. Likewise, the XxxFormatter approach (to replace the abused .toString) could be used to provide the alternative representation or custom configurations. We already have AVRO-2832 which was proposed (and never implemented) to solve the types of problems encountered by AVRO-2822 (how to specify previously encountered Schema). The canonical format is pretty much a custom formatter for a schema, and IIRC there was another proposition to have a canonical-like formatter that also retained custom metadata (I can't find the JIRA). I'm not sure about the factory/SPI approach -- it almost seems like these classes would need to be explicitly chosen and configured by the user, as opposed to plugged in. I haven't given it too much thought though! Where would a pluggable version be appropriate? All my best and thanks for the ideas, Ryan On Tue, Mar 8, 2022 at 5:29 PM Oscar Westra van Holthe - Kind <os...@westravanholthe.nl> wrote: > > Hi all, > > One change to the Java API I've been pondering is a parser/formatter > separate from the Schema & Protocol classes. > To implement this, I'm thinking of a combination of several pieces: > > - An interface for the functionality > - An implementation for the current JSON format (.avsc & .avpr) > - A service provider interface (SPI) to discover implementations with > (e.g., to enable the IDL format) > > For the actual implementation, I see several options: > > 1. Nothing; keep what we have now > 2. Create SchemaParser and ProtocolParser interfaces for parsing, but > keep the current toString() methods intact > 3. Create SchemaFormat and ProtocolFormat for both parsing and formatting > (alternatively named SchemaFormatter & ProtocolFormatter, similar to > java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter) > 4. Create both SchemaParser and ProtocolParser interfaces and > SchemaFormatter and ProtocolFormatter interfaces > > Which option do you prefer? > > Kind regards, > Oscar > > -- > > ✉️ Oscar Westra van Holthe - Kind <os...@westravanholthe.nl>
